Uncorked!

Silicon Valley has a growing number of wine shops that appeal both to connoisseurs and to wine drinkers who want to move beyond the same old merlot and chardonnay.

I checked out one of these shops, Uncorked! in downtown Saratoga. The nearly 3-year-old shop brings some new life and some good wine into the city's rather sleepy downtown. (Note to city elders: you've got a great-looking downtown, but it's kind of boring. How about trying to create a little more liveliness? The new Starbucks doesn't count.)

The small, tidy shop specializes California wines, including many from our very own Santa Cruz Mountains appellation.

"We live for value-priced wine, no matter if it's a $10 bottle or a $200 bottle," says co-owner Patrick Rupert.

The wine bar at the back of the shop has the feel of a neighborhood bar, albeit a really clean and well-lit one. On my visit a wine-swirling patron and co-owner Rupert were trading gossip about Saratoga politics. The bar has a "totally random" selection of wines that changes each day.

Rupert says he makes an effort to demystify wines and create a nonthreatening atmosphere. The shop's tag line is "fine wine without the attitude."

"I tell my customers, 'We have to get real about it. This is grape juice.'"

Although the shop specializes in California grape juice, it was an Argentine syrah that caught my eye. I'm a fan of syrah and love value-priced Argentine wines, but I admit it was the handsome label of the 2003 Xumek ($12.95) that caught my eye. I wasn't disappointed. It's a classic syrah with full flavors of blackberry, plum, leather and spice and a lingering finish.

Uncorked!, 145000 Big Basin Way, Saratoga. 408.741.9000.

-- Stett Holbrook